Tag Archive | Ancestry Pro Tools

New Sort Option for the Ancestry Pro Tools DNA Match List!

Nov1

Many of us got the Ancestry Pro Tools to see how our matches were related to each other; then we got frustrated when there were many pages of matches that could not be sorted by the closest matches to that match.  Look at the image below. The sort feature we wanted is here!

On the far right above your match list it now says Group Search Sort. If you click the sort button, it pops up a little box which gives you the option to sort by your closest matches, your match’s closest matches, or by the date.

The advantage of sorting by your match’s matches is that you can now quickly see if you have already solved the relationship to one of their close family members. The first few words of whatever you put in the notes for that match are listed. Plus if Ancestry has found a relationship there is a little three person icon. More on the basics of the pro tools are in my June blog post (click here). Meanwhile, if this has not rolled out to your pro tools account yet, there is a workaround mentioned by Leah Larkin in her facebook group – The DNA Roundtable – just add
?sort=MATCHING_RELATIONSHIP
to the end of the URL on the page with your match

Remember, this new feature only works if you have the Ancestry Pro Tools which I have heard are on sale for the Holidays at a bargain price

Finally, a Reason to Get Ancestry Pro Tools!

Jun19

Ancestry has released a new feature that many of us have been eagerly waiting for: how much DNA your matches share with each other and the estimated relationship between them. This can help when a new match has no tree, for example, if their sibling or parent has one. Read on for a description of my first experiments with this tool.

Most Mondays I go look at my new DNA matches on Ancestry. Typically I first click Unviewed and then click Common Ancestors.

The buttons I click (added arrows are mine)

If no matches come up, then I unclick the Common Ancestors button in order to see all the new matches. Next I sort them by date to see the most recent first. Sometimes I first pick one parent or change the range of cM to view (via the button called Shared DNA). Then I scan the resulting list. I typically click on the new matches with trees and the most DNA. I find that if you contact people when they have just received their results, they are more likely to respond.

I had a wonderful surprise when I clicked on a new DNA relative’s name to go to their match page with me: a message informing me that if I upgraded to the Pro Tools I could see how my matches were related to each other including the cM. Of course I upgraded, only an extra $10 per month. By the way, as they are just rolling out this feature it is a bit slow today from all of us trying it out.

My match with Gary turned up two distant relatives from different lines, perhaps I can figure out where he fits in

Now my page for that new match looks like the above. Note that you can click on the projected relationship to get the full explanation including unweighted DNA and longest segment just like on a match page.

However on the shared matches page my colored dots have changed to squares with the first letter of the group. Not sure how I feel about that change. A benefit is that it shows you how many people are in that group when you go to the edit groups. At least the colors are almost the same. On the trees and ethnicity pages it is the same colored dot as before, for now.

A few glitches occurred. I was not able save the new notes I made from the shared matches page. I can only save them from the tree and ethnicity pages. Also it was easier to set the colored dot group on those pages, as the save from the shared matches page seemed delayed.

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